


The Christmas Trap

by klainederful



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Christmas fic, First Kiss, Fluff, I know it's really late for a christmas fic, I'm Sorry, M/M, Noah's POV, Post-Blue Lily Lily Blue, i hope you enjoy this anyway
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-12
Updated: 2016-01-12
Packaged: 2018-05-13 07:22:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5699902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/klainederful/pseuds/klainederful
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Apparently, his family wasn’t the only thing Ronan wanted for Christmas. Noah smiled as a plan started to form in his mind: Ronan needed help, and what was Christmas about if not helping the ones who needed it the most?</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Christmas Trap

Henrietta in December looked like the inside of a snow ball: a cluster of houses and shops dusted with white, adorned with colorful lights and populated by people wearing warm clothes, all of them carrying bright bags full of Christmas presents for their family and friends. The notes of different Christmas songs drifted out of the shops and mingled with the happy voices of the people in the streets, creating a peculiar melody that put a smile on everyone’s faces.

Well, maybe not _everyone._ Ronan, walking beside Gansey with his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans, was frowning, looking at shop windows like they had personally offended him. Noah didn’t need to read his mind to know what he was thinking about, but, with Blue walking with them, he didn’t really have a choice on the matter. He tried to block everything out and concentrate on Blue’s voice (she was saying something about consumerism in a slightly polemic tone), but Ronan’s distress kept coming on the forefront of his mind, drowning out everything else. The longing for his home and family was always present in Ronan, a constant, dull ache whose weight on Ronan’s heart always got heavier during the holidays. He couldn’t help but remember all the happy times at the Barns, his mom’s cooking, his father coming home with marvelous presents that, he knew now, where the product of dreams, the nights spent with his brothers playing by the fire. What Ronan wanted for Christmas was to have that back, and the knowledge he couldn’t was enough to bring anyone to tears. But, because it was Ronan, it just made him angry.

“Wait,” Adam’s voice was like a blade of light that pierced the darkness of Ronan’s thoughts. As Adam bent to get something from the ground, Ronan noticed how the sleeve of his coat left his slender wrist bare, exposing it to the cold air. He wanted to cover them with his hands and warm his skin with his lips, and the intensity of his desire left Noah breathless and slightly dizzy.

When Adam straightened, a coin was resting on his palm. “Someone must have dropped this,”

He was looking around as if he hoped to find its owner among the crowd, but no one seemed to be looking for dropped change. The streets this time of year were always full of people asking for donations to a charity or another, and Adam walked up to one of them and gave the coin away instead of pocketing it, even though it wasn’t much.

“See?” Blue exclaimed with glee. “That’s what I’m talking about! Giving without expecting anything in return. That’s the true Christmas spirit.” She linked her arm with Adam’s. “You’re my new favorite person.”

Noah felt the stab of jealousy in Ronan’s heart as if it were his own.

“Yeah, because a couple cents will make a lot of difference in the world,” he bit out with a poisonous smile, ignoring Gansey’s warning glance.

Blue’s head whipped towards Ronan, the fire in her eyes hot enough to melt the snow. “Well, at least he gave _something_! What did you do for the less fortunate, write a card that says ‘I don’t give a shit, make your own money’?”

Gansey winced. “Jane, I’m sure he didn’t mean…”

“Yes, he did.” She tugged on Adam’s arm, leading him towards a colorful display of elaborate cakes.

Gansey sighed. “Really, Ronan.”

Ronan didn’t give any sign of hearing him. After a forceful kick to a particularly tall heap of snow, he stalked away from the group, his thoughts a jumble of anger and fear, and something calmer, softer. Desire.

Apparently, his family wasn’t the only thing Ronan wanted for Christmas. Noah smiled as a plan started to form in his mind: Ronan needed help, and what was Christmas about if not helping the ones who needed it the most?

***

The trap was perfect in its simplicity: strategically placed as it was right above the only door to the Monmouth apartment, it was impossible to avoid. Noah looked at his wrist, checking the time on an imaginary watch for dramatic effect. In just a couple of seconds, Adam and Ronan would walk through the door and get the most wonderful Christmas present they could have asked for.

When the door opened, however, Blue and Gansey were standing on the threshold. “What-”

Blue froze on the spot, head tilted up, eyes huge and panicked. Following her gaze, Gansey made a strangled sound, his face going from red to ashen and back to red at an alarming speed.

_Oops._

"Noah," Blue's voice was deceptively calm, the kind of calm that usually preceded a storm. "What's the meaning of this?"

If looks could kill and if Noah weren't already dead, he would have feared for his life. As it were, he just chuckled weakly and edged away from Blue, just to be safe.

"I thought Adam and Ronan were supposed to get here first?”

Gansey, who was doing his best to avoid meeting Blue's eyes, just tilted his head to the side to indicate the door, eyes fixed on his shoes. "Adam’s shift ended late. They're right behind us."

Noah brightened at that. The plan could still work. And now they had _witnesses._

"What's the hold up, maggot?"

Ronan appeared behind Blue, giving her a little shove to urge her to move. It was a testament to how upset Blue was that she didn't even react to Ronan's rudeness. Holding her ground, she pointed upwards, her mouth curved into an unhappy line. "I'm not walking under that. No way."

Ronan craned his neck to see past her, and his face morphed into a mask of pure horror when he saw the mistletoe. Noah fidgeted, but pushed every doubt about his plan away: Ronan and Adam liked each other, he _knew_ that. In fact, everyone but them seemed to know it. They just needed a little push to make the first move, and Noah intended to give them precisely that. It wasn't just Ronan’s reaction that made him nervous, though: he was growing more and more uncomfortable as Blue's anxiety and unhappiness, swept through him. Noah felt the blade of guilt stab through his chest. After Blue had opened her heart to him, told him about the curse and the impossibility of her kissing someone, after he'd heard her thoughts about Gansey, her desperate desire for him, he'd not considered her feelings for a second before putting up the mistletoe. How could he have been so thoughtless?

Swiftly, he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him, despite her resistance, under the mistletoe and past it.

"Blue doesn't have to kiss anyone." He declared, feeling her sag against him in relief. "Gansey, either."

“Oh, thank God.” Gansey joined them quickly, finally able to look at Blue again. She rolled her eyes at him.

Noah saw the exact moment understanding started to dawn on Ronan. "Noah”, he said, his voice low and dangerous. There was a murderous glint in his eyes. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Noah smiled sweetly at him. “ _I_ ’m not doing anything. You are.”

"Come on," Adam spoke for the first time, his words merging together in weariness. "I need to get started on my Latin homework."

He made to walk through the door, but Noah appeared in front of him, blocking his path.

"Uh-uh." He shook a finger in front of his face, then pointed upwards. "Mistletoe, remember? Someone needs to uphold the tradition!”

Adam looked up, then at Ronan - whose pulse quickened impossibly- then at Noah. Fair brows furrowed, he thought what _is this_?, knowing full well Noah could hear him.

Noah threw his hands in the air. He wished he’d thought to bring glitter, so he could throw it in Ronan’s face as he declared: “It’s Christmas, I’m giving you a gift!”

Ronan's furious growl only made Noah's grin grow wider.

"The real gift right now would be an exorcist to banish you from this world, you _evil_ …”

“Interesting fact: in the Middle Ages, people believed mistletoe could actually ward off evil spirits,” Gansey chimed in. “Fascinating, right?”

Everyone turned to look at him, and Blue’s pointy elbow stabbed his side.

Ronan’s eyes thinned. “Why don’t _they_ have to do anything?”

Noah shrugged. “My mistletoe, my rules.”

There was a moment of tense silence in which Ronan, shoulders tight and jaw clenched, glared daggers at Noah, while Adam sneaked little glances at him.

Noah knew he was trying to determine if Ronan was genuinely upset about having to kiss him, or if it was just an act, a way of guarding himself against Adam’s possible refusal to do so. Not that Adam would have refused. He knew what he wanted, had known for a while now, even though he hadn’t had the nerve to act accordingly yet, to Noah’s annoyance. _But,_ Adam was asking himself, _what does Ronan want?_

Adam met Noah’s gaze. Noah gave him an almost imperceptible nod, just a slight, barely-there dip of his chin that could mean anything and nothing at all, but that Adam took to mean the right thing. _Go for it._

“I don’t want to…” Adam mumbled, then trailed off, biting his bottom lip. What he meant to say was “I don’t want to do it like this.” He wanted the right time, the perfect atmosphere and circumstances. But what Ronan heard was “I don’t want to kiss him.” Even though Adam hadn’t said those exact words, they lodged into Ronan’s breast like incandescent blades, scorching his skin, piercing his lungs and robbing him of his breath. The intensity of it made his eyes smart, and Noah feel sick.

“Guess what, Parrish, I don’t want to kiss you, either.” Ronan’s voice came out full of poison and contempt, a tool made to hurt Adam’s pride. But Noah knew Ronan’s aggression was just a curtain behind which he hid his true feelings, made both to protect him and to keep people from getting too close and rip it off him. And Adam knew it, too. Noah felt it the moment it happened, when everything clicked into place and Adam was finally sure of how Ronan really felt.

“Don’t put words in my mouth.”

 _This_ , Noah thought, wishing he could still eat so he could munch on some pop-corn right then. _Is where it gets interesting._

Ronan blinked at Adam. “What?”

Adam’s mouth was curved into a tiny smile, but the tip of his ears were positively scarlet. “I never said I have no intention of kissing you.”

Ronan felt too hot and too cold all of a sudden, as if someone had set his skin on fire and poured icy water over him at the same time. Adam’s words were the flames, his smile the ice.

When he spoke, his voice was like a blade of steel, his vulnerability turned into a weapon. “This isn’t funny.”

“No,” Adam shrugged lightly. “It isn’t.”

Noah gasped quietly. He could feel Ronan’s doubt and insecurity slowly crumbling away, but not completely. There was still a question lurking in his mind like a shadow: would that kiss have the same meaning to Adam as it would to him? He didn’t think so.

Ronan scoffed, but a hint of red colored his cheeks. “We’re not doing this.”

“You can’t refuse a kiss offered under the mistletoe, though,” Blue interjected, crossing her arms over her chest with a grin. “It’s bad luck.”

Ronan was about to reply that Adam hadn’t _offered_ anything, not really, when Adam rolled his eyes. “Lynch, stop being dramatic and come here.”

Gripping Ronan’s sleeve to keep him from moving away, he tilted his head up to press his lips on his cheek.

_Wait, what?_

“There”, Adam said once they broke apart, leaving Ronan wide-eyed and swaying gently in place as if his legs were no longer able to support him. His head was filled with an overwhelming stream of thoughts, _Adam kissed me Adam fucking Parrish just fucking kissed me._ He didn't know whether to feel disappointed or relieved that it had been only on the cheek. Noah was inclined towards the latter.

“That’s…that’s _cheating_!” He whined. “You call that a kiss?”

“You don’t?” Adam replied in a distracted tone. He was too taken by the tingling of his lips, could still feel the taste and warmth of Ronan’s skin. His eyes were trained on Ronan’s face -he was blushing furiously, his skin too pale to hide it- and he was thinking about kissing him again and see if he’d keep blushing like that. That thought made Noah’s breath catch in his throat. Maybe, just, maybe, Adam wasn’t such a disappointment after all.

“However,” Adam went on. “Perhaps we should do it again, properly this time.”

His voice was light, teasing, but underlined by a hint of shyness that manifested in the prominence of his accent.

Ronan looked stunned for a moment, but, to Noah’s surprise, he recovered quickly. “Sure,” he shrugged, a smirk on his lips. “Wouldn't want to risk it any bad luck.”

“Oh, my,” Blue exhaled, covering his mouth with one hand. Gansey was blinking repeatedly, as if he thought there was something wrong with his contacts.

“ _Yes_ ,” Noah squealed excitedly, watching as Adam and Ronan gravitated towards each other once again.

His smile almost blinding now, Adam reached out to frame Ronan’s face with his hands. Ronan’s hands immediately covered Adam’s, their warmth seeping through his skin and right to his heart. When they finally kissed - soft, tentative - their feelings for each other burst like fireworks inside Noah’s mind.

“Merry Christmas!” He shouted, clapping.

Adam and Ronan jumped apart at that, as if they hadn’t realized they had an audience.

“Oh my God, _Noah_ ,” Adam mumbled, leaning his forehead on Ronan’s chest. Ronan absently cupped the back of his head with one hand, burying his fingers into his fair hair. His mind was as never before, calm and bright as a summer day.

“Thank you, Noah,” Noah said loudly, rolling his eyes. “Thanks for giving us the best. Christmas. Present. _Ever_.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Ronan tried to glare at him, but his cheeks were too red and his grin too wide to manage it convincingly. “Shut up, Czerny.”

Noah gasped dramatically, bringing a hand to his chest. “Unbelievable. The sheer amount of ingratitude is _unbelievable_!”

“Well,” Gansey interjected timidly. “You did put them in an awkward predicament, forcing them to act on their romantic feelings towards each other in front of us.”

“About that,” Blue said, slapping his arm. “Next time, a warning would be nice.”

Despite her words, she was smiling now.

“Sorry,” Noah replied, smiling back at her. “But it had to be done. You have no idea how exhausting it was to hear them thinking longingly about each other all day, every d-”

He froze as his powers were amplified by Blue’s touch and his mind was invaded by an overwhelming stream of thoughts. Very detailed and inappropriate thoughts.

“Oh no,” he whimpered in embarrassment, looking around helplessly. Adam and Ronan had moved to the couch and were laughing, wearing matching conspiratorial smirks.

“I did _not_ think this through. At all.”

Gansey looked at him questioningly, but Blue understood. She quickly stepped away from him, but she was clearly struggling to hold her laughter.

“Remember,” she said. “You brought this upon yourself.”

“I changed my mind, I want my gift back!” Noah shouted, trying his best to stay away from Adam and Ronan’s minds. He already missed the days when their heads were filled with cheesy thoughts, instead of... _this._

“THAT’S TOO MUCH INFORMATION, RONAN!”

“Stay out of my head, then.” Came Ronan’s smug reply, laced with laughter.

The bastard.

“Ugh,” Noah wrinkled his nose. He tried to focus on his own thoughts rather than his friends’, but all he was thinking about was _not_ thinking about their thoughts, which made him think about them even more. He sighed in defeat. Next year, he was getting them all ugly sweaters for Christmas. 

**Author's Note:**

> I don't really have a good excuse for posting this so late, apart from my being a professional procrastinator. I hope you enjoyed it anyways, and thank you so much for reading! Happy 2016! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧  
> As always, you can find me [here](klainederful.tumblr.com) on Tumblr.  
> (Also, I'm not a native English speaker, so if you notice any mistakes, please tell me so I can fix them!)


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